I can't speak for these other philistines we work with, but Jeff and I have made no secret about how excited we are for Street Fighter IV. But between the dearth of available arcade machines--due to a lack of domestic release and the ludicrous costs associated with importing Japanese units--and Capcom's crushing admission that the console versions won't be out until sometime next year, it's been hard for me to keep my excitement from turning to heartbreak. (Then again, we hear the SF State campus arcade has a machine at $0.75 a play, so maybe we'll be taking a little field trip in the near future. Anybody checked that out?)
At least now we have something to fawn over. Capcom's Unity blog made the wait a little harder this morning by unveiling the box art for both versions, which, you may remember, will be totally identical. No platform-specific characters. Props to Capcom on that one. Oh yeah, the art.
So what is with the incessant pimpage of Chun Li lately? Between this artwork and the upcoming movie that has her name right in the freaking title, girl is all over the Street Fighter branding lately. Does Capcom think this series needs some pretty-girl infusion to get the wider audience excited about playing another Street Fighter? Personally, I think the return of the full cast from SFII speaks for itself, but then diehard fighting game fans are probably in a distinct minority these days. Which is kind of sad when you think about it.
Are you as stoked for this game as we are? And have you found any SFIV arcade units in the wilds of your own local arcades (if you have any left)? Post a field report!